An atheist scientist made this statement. Could you give an answer to this atheist as though you are talking to him (not a fellow christian) being persuasive in your belief and not argumentative...
Here is the statement:
"Every description I've heard holds God to be all powerful and all good. And then I look around and I see a tsunami that killed a quarter million people in Indonesia. An earthquake that killed a quarter million people in Haiti. And I see earthquakes and tornadoes and disease, childhood Leukemia. And I see all of this and I say I do not see evidence of both of those being true simultaneously. If there is a God, the God is either not all powerful, or not all good. It can't be both."
God gave us a choice, because His kingdom is love to choose that kingdom, and people make bad choices, so problems can happen.
Because of the sin nature of people bad things can happen, but it does not matter what goes on in this world people can always cry out to God.
If people are on God's side, they are on His side, and if not then they are not on His side, and the world will go on as it goes on with its good and bad.
God allows things to run its natural course for the most part unless there is a specific plan already planned out from Him, and will protect the saints from harm if He wants that to happen, but what can the world receive that is sinful, and hateful, selfish, and arrogant, and self exalting, so the world will have to deal with the world that they caused to exist in that condition of the bad things that happen.
Which the next plan is to allow the world to have their way, and cause all people that do not love Him to follow a kingdom that acknowledges no God, based on evolution, and people can still evolve, and then God will end this sin business on earth.
I would not blame God for anything but the sin condition of people that brings upon the evil that goes on in the world, and the more sinful the world, the worse it gets in natural disasters, and the earth spewing out natural disasters.
Do not blame God when you want to deny Him, and then cry why does He not work among the world when you deny Him so that He cannot work among you.
God is all powerful, but He gave us a choice, so how can He work among them that choose not the good, and do not choose Him, and He is all good, but the same thing how can He work among the evil if they do not follow Him, and choose not the good.
The world is based on selfishness, and arrogance, and self exaltation, and it is worse now than years ago, so the world will have to deal with the problems because they choose the evil, and not the good, and stop putting blame on God, or saying God is not all powerful, or not all good.
Like they say, you made your bed, now sleep in it.
And sin separates us from God.
God said if a nation which is called by My name shall humble themselves, and do right, I will hear and heal the land, so let the world come together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and do what is right, and obey His teachings, and then let us see if there is problems then, for problems be gone now.
Now they have an interpretation of the Bible based on evolution, and people can still evolve, and the powers that be want to establish evolution as standard religion in the world, and to produce the New Age Christ, so when He appears He will cause them to evolve to be greater.
And guess what, no come on guess, it will be the worse kingdom on earth, and will take out everybody that opposes their kingdom, which the nations will be together and acknowledge no God.
And Paul said evil men shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
And Jesus said since iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.
And the last generation shall curse their father, and not bless their mother, and be pure in their own eyes, but not washed from their filthiness, and highly selfish, and highly arrogant, and highly self exalting, and will devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men, which they will heap money to themselves and not care about the poor and needy.
And looky today folks, and what do we have, and there you have it.
So you see the pattern through the process of time the world gets worse in problems, in connection with how the world acts, which they get worse in selfishness, and arrogance, and self exaltation, as time goes on, for that is the direction that world is going, for that is what the world is based on.
Until the Bible says the transgressors are come to the full, and follow a kingdom that is the most cruel, and arrogant, and self exalting kingdom in the history of mankind.
But that is not God's fault, for that came strictly from people, and their wicked ways that caused these problems, and troubles, on earth.
And Paul said when the world comes together and say Peace and safety in the future as all the nations are together as one trying to establish peace on earth, that sudden destruction comes upon them as a woman in travail with child, and they shall not escape, and that trouble is in relation to their wickedness, for God is working less in the world, and the world is exerting their self exaltation more, until they get to the beast kingdom, and then God is not working in the world at all.
You even here people say, people are not as kind, and loving, and caring, as years ago, and do you see it is the people and their wickedness why there is problems, and the earth will spew out more natural disasters, and people will hurt each other more, and more problems.
And why, because God operates in the world according to their actions, whether they are good or bad, so if they are worse today it is because God is not operating in the world like in the past, and that is according to their wickedness that is worse than in time past, and the less God works in the world, the more the devil works in the world, and when the transgressors are come to the full, then the New Age Christ will deceive all people that do not love God, and then Satan will be off his leash, and the wicked will be as wicked as they want to be with no restraint from God as He is restraining now.
As time goes on Satan gets a little more off his leash, and God operating less, because the world gets more wicked as time goes on.
But God is still in control, and Satan a defeated foe, but we have a choice, so the world will have to deal with its bad choices, and stop blaming God.